China deploys airship on outpost in disputed South China Sea, satellite firm says
- Images point to an airship-shaped craft above Mischief Reef as the Chinese military reportedly aims to build an early warning system in the area
An airship-shaped object could be seen floating over the atoll, which is now China’s biggest outpost in the disputed waters, Israeli satellite company ImageSat International (ISI), said in a post on its Twitter account on Sunday.
The photos, taken by ISI on November 18, was the first evidence that China had deployed such an aircraft in the area, the company said.
China reportedly began building an early-warning system of aerostats in 2017. Huge balloons were fitted with phased-array radars to help detect low-flying incoming planes, according to military magazine Kanwa Asian Defence .
The craft can remain aloft for an extended period of time, offering a relatively low-cost, efficient and all-weather solution to monitor a large area when spy planes cannot be deployed. When teamed with ground radar, satellites and early-warning reconnaissance planes, they can form a comprehensive surveillance network.
Aerostats are being deployed in some of China’s strategic hotspots such as the country’s border with North Korea and the Taiwan Strait. According to Kanwa Asian Defence , the high-powered aerostats can monitor both airborne targets and mobile ground objects within a radius of 300km (186 miles).